Posted June 26, 2013in Joe's Neighborhood
What would the Founding Fathers do? There seems to be a wistful longing these days for when men were men and the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were the talk of the town. But don’t you wonder how all those revolutionary heroes navigated their home
Read More →
Posted June 19, 2013in Joe's Neighborhood
My uncle had one arm. In my 1960’s world view, this single difference — not intellect, not physical strength, not beauty — propelled my uncle into a mystical category. He moved within the realm of the giants of those days, Tarzan, Robin Hood and Davy Crockett. He was a man
Read More →
Posted June 12, 2013in Joe's Neighborhood
“How to” books are everywhere. How to lose weight. How to become stronger. How to fix your dry wall. You name it, there’s a “how to” book or pamphlet or Internet site out there. “How to” information seems almost spiritual in its scope, doesn’t it? If you just find the
Read More →
Posted June 05, 2013in Joe's Neighborhood
Do you ever wonder what rules you live by? Sure you do. Your rules can be as simple as “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife” or as complex as trying to determine if donuts are part of the Mediterranean Diet. But we all have rules. These rules are frequently
Read More →
Posted May 29, 2013in Joe's Neighborhood
Drama is in our blood. We love the show. Unfortunately, when we look in the mirror at our own lives, we don’t see that we are playing the lead. So we buy People magazine or watch the Kardashians or eavesdrop on Honey Boo Boo, because we are fairly certain that
Read More →Sue Bullard-Fisher died the other day. Most of you don’t know her. She was a probation officer in Polk County for 40 years, but, really, she should have been a probation officer in the first half of the last century. She was from a different time with a different ethic.
Read More →Hubris is an interesting quality. In my day, they would have called you “stuck-up.” A little too sure of yourself. Self-confidence on steroids, perhaps. Whatever you call it, “arrogance” is a label that doesn’t sit well with our Midwestern ethic. To say that your cubicle neighbor might be a bit
Read More →Remember last Thanksgiving? Here, let me help. That was when your mom questioned your wife’s ability to make cranberry salad and both women marched angrily out of the kitchen. I would not call that a win-win for you. And you remember your sister? She arrived with her husband, which is
Read More →“Pushing paint” doesn’t much sound like how a masterpiece is created. You push the grocery cart at Hy-Vee. Or you push your bike up the hill. Or you push your stalled car. When you push something, there is a grunting sound you make, like when you are moving around heavy
Read More →Secret information has to be out there, right? Some super top-secret information that tells us how to be strong, smart and beautiful. Otherwise it just doesn’t make any sense. You’re not sure what I mean? OK, go out to the Abercrombie and Fitch store in Jordan Creek and pick up
Read More →
